New Single: The 1975

I'm baaaaack bitches!!  Sorry I've been gone so long...been traveling around and unable to update.  But, I've heard a band that has inspired me so much that I hate to come out of hiatus to tell you about them.  I'm a little more than obsessed with The 1975.  And, not just because they're named after a year in the most awesome decade to be born in, but because their new song "Sex" is the serious shit. 

It's got everything I love in a song...hooky crunchy guitars and a catchy emo chorus.  This song literally had me at hello (well, you know what I mean).  The 1975 are from Manchester, England and are releasing their second EP this year, also called Sex and available November 19th. Check out the rest of their music on their Soundcloud...it's the bees knees!

Way Back Wednesday: Nelly Furtado

Remember back when Nelly Furtado was just this super cute Canadian girl singing cutesy pop songs and not some hip-hop hype girl?  I heard this song while shopping last week and I remembered how much I really loved her first album, Whoa, Nelly!, and also how different her music is now.  Not that I don't like her newer music, but I have very fond memories of driving from LA to Lake Tahoe with my BFF for Warped Tour and listening to this album the whole way.  Where is the old Nelly Nelly Furtado?  Is she still in there or has she been completely taken over by the hip-hop bug?  I'd love to hear an album of somewhere in between.  Would be pretty fly.

Braziliantly Perfect Record: Built to Spill - Keep It Like A Secret

Built to Spill - Keep It Like A Secret

There is no way I could do a list of perfect records from start to finish without mentioning the Built to Spill masterpiece Keep It Like A Secret. This record is perfect to me. Every song is just as amazing as the previous. The guitarmanship, the lyrics, the Doug Martsch signature childlike vocals. It's like musical porn to me. Anytime I put this record on, I feel better for having heard it.  There isn't a time that it doesn't immediately put me in a better mood. This record brings me back to when I first started working at my old job. My work bff and I were both equally in love with it and tag teamed playing it on the community cd player in the office. I knew I loved this record, but it was completely sealed when I saw Built to spill play live.  One of my favorite bands ever to see play live.  SO GOOD.

Built to Spill is a band that is near perfect for me in general. They are one of a few bands that I can actually stand listening to them noodle on stage. The way Doug plays his guitar so nonchalantly, as though he has no care in the world. Does he need to look at the strings to see where he is? Nope. He's Doug Martsch. One of the best guitar players, if you ask me and also the creator of this amazing record that will never grow old, fade away or be dated.

Listen: "The Plan," "Carry the Zero," "Time Trap," "You Were Right" "Broken Chairs"

New (to me) Music: Japandroids

Sometimes I hate myself for being a judgmental music snob.  It's this arrogant bullshit that almost makes me miss a band just because I think they have a stupid band name.  It wouldn't be the first time.  I used to have nightmares about how much I hated the name Badly Drawn Boy.  Although I love his work with the About A Boy Soundtrack, I still smirk in disgust when his name is mentioned.

Fortunately, I am a mature adult and have moved past this part of my life.  This is where the Japandroids come in.  I kept hearing their name and this is what came to mind: J-Pop, Videodrone (don't ask) and corny rap-metal (I actually pictured shiny pleather catsuits and spiky boots).  What I found out when I ACTUALLY LISTENED TO THE MUSIC, was that they are AMAZING!  And, I love them!  And, they might be one of my new favorite bands.

Celebration Rock is full of awesome party anthems best served with a pint of Guinness and a dash of fist pumping.  I pop it on before setting out on a hike and pick back up 30 minutes later totally energized and ready to go.  "The Nights of Wine and Roses" is my favorite song right now.  Before, it was "The House That Heaven Built" and I feel as though it's going to keep changing with each and every listen (my money's on "Continuous Thunder").  I picked this one up from Amazon when they were running one of their amazing mp3 sales.  I highly recommend you doing the same.

YAY Japandroids!!

New Single: The xx

After releasing the first single from their forthcoming sophomore album, the xx have released another single to further fan the flames of excitement for the September 11th release of Coexist.  I was quite a bit obsessed with "Crystalized" and "Shelter" from their self-titled first record and CAN.NOT.WAIT to hear Coexist in its entirety.  They had me at "Angels" and keep reeling me in.  LOVE. Love. LOVE. love. love. love. that song. September 11th will not be here fast enough!

Way Back Wednesday: Foreigner

Sometimes I am such a whiny emo bitch that I want to kick my own ass.  On Monday, I was in spin class and the instructor played "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner (after class for the stretching, not for actual spin) and I got all wispy.  Let it be known that I do not actively like this song.  I'm sure I liked it when it came out, but I was thirteen and really didn't know what love is.  Now I'm a "grown ass adult" (as someone pointed out to me the other day) and this is NOT OK.  In honor of my being a complete idiot, I'm dedicating this week's Way Back Wednesday to all the emo bitches, old and young.  Sometimes you just gotta have a good cry and feel sorry for yourself.

It helps if you then watch the video.  It's so GOD DAMN CHEESY you can't help but feel better!

New single: The Bronx

I freaking LOVE The Bronx.  Whether they are the only English speaking punk-rock Mariachi band (that I know of) or singing about black tar heroin, they are one of the best punk bands out there right now.  In honor of the Fourth of July, they covered X's "Fourth of July" and are giving it away in exchange for your email address.  Rock it, son.

And, while you're at it, check out the Tiny Desk performance they did for NPR's "All Songs Considered."

Way Back Wednesday: Kim Wilde

Happy Fourth of July y'all!!  I was trying to think of songs that were Fourth of July appropriate that didn't involve Lee Greenwood or Katy Perry and remembered one of my favorites from back in the day.  There is something about "Kids In America" by Kim Wilde that makes you feel invincible...like you felt when you were young and could do anything.  No matter how old I am, I will always feel like I am a part of the "kids" in America.

Now, go out and get your red, white and blue swerve on!

New (to me) Single: Twin Shadow

I'm more than a little obsessed with this song.  I first heard it a few weeks ago, but have been so busy that I didn't get a chance to share my love with the world.  So, sue me...I might be a little late to the Twin Shadow game.  I'm sure there are hipsters in Silver Lake Echo Park Frogtown Williamsburg somewhere really lowly and ghetto who knew this song in utero.  I'm just not that cool.  Sorry.

"Five Seconds" is a-mazing and it's also one of my new favorite songs.  It hasn't replaced my summer love for "Heaven" by The Walkmen, but holds a different place in my heart....the one left vacant after I burned out on Bloc Party a while ago.  It comes as no surprise that his new album Confess will be released on July 9th by one of my favorite record labels, 4AD...love them.  Definitely my vote for one of my favorite summer songs of 2012.  CAN.NOT.WAIT.

New Single: The Heavy

Why do I always have to leave town when the good shit is going on?  Not only am I missing the Blind Pilot concert, but The Heavy are playing The Bootleg Theater this Thursday to promote their new album, The Glorious Dead, out August 21st on Counter Records.  The Heavy are a band that I have been dying to see live, but haven't yet.  Hello, bucket list!  And, to see them at The Bootleg makes it even more torturous that I'm not here.  Next time!

New Single: Matt and Kim

I've done everything that I can not to like Matt & Kim.  It had nothing to do with them or their music, and more to do with the hipster douchebags who liked them and were promoting them all over LA when they first came onto the scene.  I've since gotten over that, because I just like their music too damn much.  They just released a new song today "Let's Go" with a cool groovy basketball dribbling video to match and announced that they have an album called Lightning coming out this Fall.  Love Love Loving it!

New Single: Stars

I first fell in love with Stars because I was once OBSESSED with their gut wrenching song "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead." I didn't watch The OC, but apparently it was on the soundtrack.  Not how I found it, but hopefully it's how many others stumbled across them and bought lots of their records. Either way, that song was a gateway for me to be introduced to the rest of their music and actually introduced me to a lot of other their fellow Canadian bands that were also on their same record label, Arts & Crafts.  Stars is back after their 2010 release The Five Ghosts with "The Theory of Relativity," the first single from their forthcoming album The North.  New album, new record label, same dreamy indie pop.  I can dig that.  The North will be release September 4th on ATO Records.  Bonus: they're offering "The Theory of Relativity" as a free download in exchange for your email address on their website.  Can't wait to hear more!!

Braziliantly Perfect Record: Possum Dixon - New Sheets

PossumDixon - New Sheets

Back around 1998 when New Sheets came out, I was fairly obsessed with it. I wasn't reminded of it until Celso Chavez from Possum Dixon passed away recently (sad) and it reminded me of them and how much I liked them back in the day. So, I popped it on. This is a really good fricking record. It's produced by Ric Ocasek, which is usually a winning formula for me. He's got a way of making indie rock poppy and pop indie rocky. I really dig his style. And, I dig Possum Dixon too.

Possum Dixon is one of those bands that were beloved in LA, had moderate success at college radio and just never took off. I don't really know why, but they have a real knack for writing great pop songs. This record reminds me of a time when I first started my last job (I was there for 13 years) and we had a communal radio that we all listened to. My work BFF Shannon and I loved Possum Dixon and Built to Spill, while the youngun in the office was absolutely obsessed with Incubus (pre-fame). We would often fight over the radio and our boss would end up breaking the tie by tossing on some Aphex Twin to shut us up. Yuck. But, Possum Dixon always brings me back to that time when I was excited to be working in the music biz. After not listening to this record in eons, I'm happy to say it still holds up!

Listen: "Only In The Summertime," "Firecracker," "New Sheets" and "Heavenly"

"Only In The Summertime" courtesy of MySpace:



Only In The Summertime

Way Back Wednesday: Ol' Dirty Bastard

I will start by saying that I love me some Ol' Dirty Bastard. Born to this world as Russell Tyrone Jones, ODB was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan and definitely one of its most outrageous.  I wouldn't say that I am his #1 musical fan.  I like his music (especially his Wu-Tang ish), but I was just a huge fan in general of him.  He was always doing a lot of really messed up shit.  Like, this one time, he was filming a show for MTV and he took two of his thirteen children to the welfare office to pick up their checks. By Republican standards, it was abominable, but to my standards, it was pretty frickin funny.  Then there was the MTV Video Awards when he rushed the stage and proclaimed, "Wu-Tang Clan is for the children." They sure are.I wouldn't say that ODB was the best guy in the world.  He was kind of a druggie, got arrested for stealing a bunch of stuff, attempted murder, made some violent threats and went to jail a bunch.  My friends who worked with him at Elektra would all hide when he called because they knew it was going to be bad news.  As far as train wrecks go, his was fun to watch.  And, when he was released from jail with Mariah Carey at his side, I hung that photo next to my desk at work.  All this said, I loved me some ODB.  And, I'm sad that he's dead (RIP ODB).

Braziliantly Perfect Record: Weezer - Pinkerton

Weezer - Pinkerton

There was a period of time in my life where things were a little sideways. I was coming to grips with life not exactly working out how I had planned, nursing a perpetually broken heart and working through some general shit. Weezer's Pinkertonwas there for me. Like a good friend telling me to buck up. Things were going to get better. And, they eventually did.  Which makes me love this record even more than normal.

I can't tell you how excited I was when, after breaking up and basically being dead in the water, Rivers decided to get the band back together (sans Matt Sharp, sorry) and hit the road. I'll never forget hitting Warped Tour with throngs of screaming teenagers and feeling so happy to hear all my favorite songs played live. I am willing to say that I cried at least once.  That was the first of many shows I got to see (including some really awesome ones at small venues). Say what you will about Rivers, but he can write a fucking song. He may have gone a little too poppy and  lightened up now that he's married and with child, but he has written some of my favorite songs of all time.
This is a quintessential record for Weezer and one of my favorite records of all time.

Listen: "Tired of Sex," "No One Else," "Good Life," "El Scorcho" and "Falling For You"

See also:  Weezer's self-titled debut album aka the Blue Album (also completely perfect)

New Music: The Walkmen

I'll start by saying that I love The Walkmen.  I fell in love with them when they released "The Rat" back in 2004.  It had the right mixture of angst, sexiness and bravado that I was looking for back then.  Like The Walkmen, my palate has changed.  JUST A LITTLE BIT.  But, I'm glad.  Because I feel like the band and I are both in a place of settling down, not being so angry and, while they are wanting to write and and perform them, I am wanting to listen to romantic hyperbolic indie rock love songs. 

Heaven is The Walkmen's seventh album in their ten years as a band and is easily one of their best.  The record is pretty solid from start to finish.  Heaven starts out with "We Can't Be Beat," which starts out like a lullaby and builds up and then leads into "Love Is Luck," a typical amazing Walkmen song.  "Heartbreaker" is another favorite of mine. 

"I'm not your heartbreaker
some tender ballad player
I'm not your heartbreaker

These are the good years
all the best we'll ever know
these golden light years

I'm not your heartbreaker
some tender ballad player
I'm not your heartbreaker

You know I'm hopeless
oh no, no you're wrong
its not the singer, it's the song

You know I'm helpless
oh no, no you're wrong
it's not the singer, it's the song"

LOVE.  There are still a couple Walkmen signature slow burning tracks: "The Witch," "Southern Heart" and the gut wrenching "Line by Line."  And then there's "Song For Leigh," a cute little love song where Hamilton wails "I sing myself sick about ya."  Cute.  "The Love You Love" is also another stand out track on my shortlist of favorites of all time by them. 

Hands down, my favorite song on this album is the title track.  "Heaven" has been stuck in my head for weeks.  I just can't shake it.  It's just the sweetest song and I can't get enough.  It just makes me so happy.

"Don't leave me
oh, you're my best friend
all of my life
you'll always be"

For a career of over ten years and seven albums, The Walkmen have tried different directions, yet have stayed consistently good.  They've also kept the same lineup throughout this time.  That's pretty rare for a band.  I can't wait to see them perform this and many of my other favorite songs by them when they tour this summer.  You can also check out the foxiest guys in indie rock at any of these spots:

June 27                 Louisville, KY                    Big Four Lawn, Waterfront Park

June 28                 St. Louis, MO                     Plush

June 29                 Milwaukee, WI                  Summerfest 2012

June 30                 Minneapolis, MN               First Avenue

July 5                   Salt Lake City, UT              Twilight Concert Series

July 20*               Vancouver, BC                    Deer Lake Park

July 21*               Auburn, WA                       White River Amphitheatre

July 22*               Troutdale, OR                    McMenamin’s Historic Edgefield Manor

July 25*               Morrison, CO                     Red Rocks Amphitheeatre

July 29*               Indianapolis, IN                 The Lawn at White River State Park

July 30*               Cleveland, OH                   Jacobs Pavilion

July 31*               Detroit, MI                         Fox Theatre

August 2*            Toronto, ON                       Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

August 3              Montreal, QC                     Osheaga Music and Arts Festival 2012

August 5              Chicago, IL                         Lollapalooza 2012

August 10            San Francisco, CA             Outside Lands Festival 2012

*With Florence and the Machine

Braziliantly Perfect Record: Pixies - Doolittle

I was recently on an extremely boring cross country flight (yo, US Airways...what's up with no tv's or in-flight entertainment?!) and I decided to play a game with myself where I listened to what I thought were perfect albums. Start to finish, amazing.  I like this game so much, I'm turning it into a regular feature.

The first and greatest installment:

1. Pixies- Doolittle

I mean, COME ON! This record is fucking awesome.  I remember the first time I heard “Monkey Goes to Heaven” on the college radio station.  I was like – “WTF is this?!  I love it!” And, then I heard the rest of the record and that was it…how I found the Pixies and fell in love, slicing up eyeballs.  I was lucky enough to see two nights of the Doolittle tour a few years back and was stoked. But, having been away from the record for a while, I was reminded at how truly amazing it is.  Any of you youngsters out there, take note. This is the record to get into. The one that will make you cool. The one that will make you rock the fuck out. It's a shame that Kim Deal and Frank Black don't get along because they are magical together. Truly. 

Listen: “DEBASER” (!!!!), “I Bleed,” “Crackity Jones,” "La La Love You," "There Goes My Man" "Monkey Goes to Heaven" (I know these were the singles, but they're still rad)

New Music: The Cribs

I don’t know what it is about The Cribs’ music that is like kryptonite to me.  With each new release, I have a tendency to glob onto the record and obsess over it until I am forced to walk away and pick up something new.  There is something a little “Jeannie Emo” about the brand of punk rock their serving up.  Maybe it’s their addictive melodies or maybe it’s their simple and familiar chord structures.  Either way, their music is smile inducing and addictive.  In The Belly of the Brazen is no different from my favorite of their records: Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs.  From the opening track of “Glitters Like Gold” I find myself in my happy place.  Then comes “Come On, Be A No One.”  I’ve already waxed enough poetic about how much I love this song, but I have to say that I love it more every time I hear it.  I loved “Jaded Youth” and “Anna” - easily in the top five best songs on the record.  “Chi-Town” is another high paced catchy punk rock song that has a somewhat four-chord structure reminiscent of the Ramones. “Pure O” is the perfect example of a song that has that melody that makes me all gooey inside.  I could listen to it all day.  One song that stands out (not because I’m all emo-gaga over it) is “Back to the Bolthole.” It reminds me of J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr.  Kind of an interesting direction from The Cribs and I like it. 

I missed The Cribs when they played in Minneapolis (I happened to be there visiting) because it was too cold.  I guess I’m not as punk rock as I think I am.  I won’t be making the same mistake when they play Los Angeles on June 15^th at the El Rey.

Don’t be like a DirecTV commercial and be me and miss them play live.  Go buy tickets now:

06/05 - Johnny Brendas - Philadelphia, PA
06/06 - Irving Plaza - New York, NY
06/07 - Black Cat - Washington DC
06/08 - Motorco Music Hall - Durham, NC
06/09 - Masquerade: Hell Stage - Atlanta, GA
06/11 - Fitzgerald's: Upstairs - Houston, TX
06/12 - The Parish - Austin, TX
06/15 - El Rey Theater - Los Angeles, CA
06/16 - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA
06/18 - Venue - Vancouver CA